Tied - Part One (6 page)

I was more interested in the crowd around us during that fight. Their bloodthirsty shouts, the discreet betting that went on, it was all so unlike anything I’d been a part of before. And it was very much like the dirty underground sort of activity that I imagined New York city to be full of.

Now, though, I couldn’t take my eyes off of Lockett. “You never fight with him?” I asked Mal. He and Alexa stood next to me. The small basement of the gym was pretty packed in and I wasn’t sure he even heard me.

“Nope,” he said, “He weighs more. Different class. Surly and I would never get matched with him.”

It made sense. He was definitely bigger than his two friends - not that they were small guys themselves.

I heard the ear-piercing sound of shrieking women as Lockett lifted his fists into the air, hyping up the crowd. There, at the far corner of the ring, was the flock of women I’d heard about. His good luck girls - all wearing a full-face of professional looking makeup, matching tight black shirts, short shorts, flipping their shiny perfect hair, cheering his name… I swallowed the lump in my throat. What a fool I’d been, to ever entertain the idea that he might be into me. Even a little.

How could he, with girls like that throwing themselves at his feet?

The bell rang and the fight started before I could feel sorry for myself for too long. I wouldn’t have guessed that men as big as Lockett and his opponent could move so fast - but they attacked each other with a blinding flurry of fists and feet.

I felt like my heart was in my throat when Lockett dodged a fist aimed right for his face. I didn’t think I could watch - I didn’t want to see him get hurt. I looked down at my feet after he dodged another swing - and heard Alexa chuckle at my side.

“He’ll win,” she said.

“He sure seems to think so.” He’d bragged about it all afternoon before he’d left the apartment ahead of us. “It doesn’t mean he won’t get hurt.”

She rubbed my shoulder but didn’t say anything else.

A roar went up from the crowd and I had to look up to see what happened. Lockett’s opponent was staggering back, tripping over his own feet. Obviously he’d been struck - and I’d missed it.

Lockett will be fine
, I reassured myself as I forced myself to watch. He descended on the still-staggering fighter and dragged him downward, bringing his own knee up into the guy’s chest. The crowd reacted with a unified “Oooh.”

My stomach reacted with a wince. No - this fighting scene definitely wasn’t for me.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the first round. I let loose the breath I’d been holding. “Is it almost over?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Mal said, “He’ll go for the knockout pretty fast in the next round.”

He was sitting in the corner while someone bought him water and a towel. The flock of girls behind him shouted encouragement and he only smirked back. I had to wonder just what the heck made the man so full himself. Or what the attitude might be hiding.

The second round started to even louder cheers than the first. Hissing, spitting, booing, screaming - these people sure were serious about the sport. I just stood on my toes and tried to see past the few fans in front of us.

Lockett winked at his girls, causing another wave of screeches to rise from their corner. Then he and his opponent clashed once more, this time grabbing each other and hanging on. Lockett kicked at the guy’s legs, obviously trying to bring him down to the mat.
Then they’ll try to choke each other. Why can’t we be into a friendlier sport?

With a mighty shove, Lockett hurled the man backwards against the ropes. The guy bounced and came at Lockett with fists flying, but Lockett shoved him back again. And then he laughed. Was he seriously mocking this guy? The crowd ate it up, but somehow I didn’t think it was such a good idea to piss off someone whose intention was to beat you up to begin with. Wasn’t he worried?

No, of course not
. Lockett wouldn’t worry. He knew he would win. It wasn’t even a question to him. But I was afraid for him. I watched with clenched fists as they clashed once more, grappling, each trying to hook the other man’s legs and knock him off-balance.

Despite my worry, my nerves were alive with excitement when Lockett finally brought the guy down, and my voice joined the rest of the crowd’s when he got an arm around the man’s neck.

His opponent tapped out to the roar of the crowd. Lockett stood and raised his fists in victory. And as he did, those girls, all four of them, climbed up into the ring and surrounded him, jumping up and down in their heels, hanging off his arms and squealing with excitement. He laughed and grinned down at them as they were unceremoniously hustled off the mat by the organizers.

“See?” Alexa said, elbowing me, “No problem. He’s good at this.”

“Yeah,” I said, only half-hearing her. I sank back to my feet, letting the people in front of my block my view. I didn’t want to be like those girls - not really. Not most of the time. But for just a fleeting moment I wished I was the type to throw myself into the ring and go after a piece of him myself.

We waited as the crowd began to disperse. His was the last fight and the tiny gym was slow to empty as friends sought friends and congratulated the fighters. It almost seemed like everybody knew each other. At least Mallet and Alexa did. I stood off to the side and out of the way as they were greeted by a stream of acquaintances.

My throat caught when I spotted Lockett approaching. His good luck girls flounced behind him, following and jockeying for position, but he wasn’t looking at them. His eyes were locked on me.

“Hey.” A towel hung over his neck but otherwise he was still bare-chested. He had pulled on sweatpants over those tiny shorts, thank god. Even the strongest woman in the world couldn’t have kept her eyes aimed properly upward if he stood before her in those tight things.

“Hey,” I said back, my throat suddenly dry.

“Enjoy the fight?”

“I, uh, I’m glad you won.”

The girls behind him tittered. One reached out and stroked his arm. He ignored them. “I generally do.”

“Oh, my God,” I laughed, hiding my smile behind my hand. “Are you always so…”

“Arrogant? Megalomaniacal? Full of myself?”

“Aww,” one of the girls cut in, “You aren’t arrogant.”

He ignored her and waited for me to respond. “I wasn’t going to say any of those,” I said. “Confident? Maybe?”

“That’s probably the most polite word.” He leaned in close. He was sweaty and he radiated heat but I didn’t mind one bit. I wouldn’t have minded if he’d wanted to get even closer. “What do you say we ditch my fan club and go get a drink?”

“I don’t drink,” I said, eyes darting around at the girls behind him. They would drink with him for sure. Hell, they’d do anything he wanted, judging by the way they looked at him.

But he’s not talking to them. He’s talking to me
.

“Uh, I’m pretty sure you drink coffee, lady. Soda. Fruit punch. Hot chocolate.”

I smiled. “It’s the right season for hot chocolate.”

“Deal.”

He was gone as quickly as he’d appeared. Every one of those girls gave me a dirty look before turning and chasing him down, but I wasn’t worried about them. Not anymore. Not after the way he’d acted - a little rude toward them, maybe, but they were all competing for his attention anyway. If he didn’t give it to them, well, that was just a part of the game.

I exchanged a look with Alexa. She gave me a weak, worried grin. “I know,” I mouthed, rolling my eyes.

Mallet, on the other hand, winked and gave me a thumbs up. I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about the fact that he was rooting for this. But I trusted his opinion - he knew his friend better than Alexa did, and if he wasn’t going to try to scare me off, then maybe I wasn’t making such a bad move after all.

○●○●○●○●○

My hopes were very quickly dashed when we went to a bar first as a group - Lockett, some of the other fighters, some girls… it was a lot of people and they were all quite loud. I hovered around the outskirts, speaking to Mal and Alexa when they drifted my way but otherwise feeling pretty alone.

God help me, am I actually homesick?

His girls were there. The floated effortlessly around him, touching him, flirting with him. I watched out of the corner of my eyes with a growing jealousy - a little of it for his attention, but also a little for how casually seductive they were. No amount of makeup or slinky outfits in the world would turn me into a sexy sort of woman. Not like them.

I was lost in those thoughts when two of them approached me - one girl with raven black hair and dazzling green eyes, the other blond and busty with full red lips. “This is Cara, and I’m Whitney.”

“I’m Katherine,” I said, looking between the two of them.

“How do you know Lockett?”

Oh, boy. They’re just jumping right into it.
“I’m his new roommate,” I said. “I mean, my sister is one of his roommates, I just moved in with them.”

“How nice,” Cara said, flipping her hair, “So you’re new to the city.”

“I am,” I said, twisting my hands behind me. “Have you guys been here long?”

“Oh, we grew up here,” Cara said.

“So we know everybody in this scene,” Whitney said, waving her hand at the group of fighters and friends.

Cara gasped as if she’d just had a great idea. “We should hook her up with someone! Oh, Boxer would love her.”

“Or Jersey Jon, or Braddock,” Whitney listed off. “We love playing matchmaker.”

I’ll bet.
I cast my eyes around for Lockett and spotted him in a circle two-people deep. No way was I elbowing my way in there. I tried and failed to catch his eye.
So much for hot chocolate. How do I get out of this conversation?
“Guys, thanks, but I’m not interested in seeing anyone right now. I’m really just concentrating on finding a job-”

“Everyone girl says that, honey, but none of us mean it,” Whitney said with a wink.

“But I do mean it.”

Cara elbowed me playfully. “One night with a fighter and you’ll change your mind,” she said. “Trust me. These boys know how to show a girl a real good time. Let us find you one, okay?”

Yeah. One that isn’t Lockett.
“Maybe some other time. Nice meeting you.” I drifted away, praying that they didn’t try to follow. Luckily the two girls did have some manners and they let me go.

I was about ready to sneak on out and get on the train when Lockett suddenly pushed his way through his crowd of friends and grabbed my hand.

“Let’s go.”

I followed him outside, bundling myself back up in my winter coat while he didn’t even put on a sweater or a jacket at all. It was still winter, and windy, but the man didn’t seem to feel it at all.

“Wait up!” I called, my arm getting caught on my way out the door.

He laughed as he came back to me. “Sorry,” he said, “I think I’m part Yeti.” He tugged my coat over my shoulder so I could find the armhole and finally zipper myself inside.

“What about your friends?” I asked, “Everyone’s still in there.” It was true - we were the first ones leaving.

“I see enough of them.”

“You see enough of me,” I grinned, “I do live with you.”

“Hmm. Good point. Guess it’s time to go make some new friends, instead.”

He was joking but it was still bothering me - why on earth did he want to hang out with me? It was such a pathetic thing to ask, I couldn’t just come right out and say it.
So just enjoy it, quit questioning things
.

But he read my mind. Or at least, he read the confusion on my face. Linking our elbows, he said, “So what’s a guy like me doing, harassing a girl like you?”

“A fair question.”

He stopped us and turned me so that I was facing him. Looking down at me, his face was suddenly serious. “I don’t really know, myself,” he said. He ran a thumb over my bottom lip. My breath caught in my throat. “I just know I can’t stop thinking about kissing you.”

“Unexplainable attraction,” I muttered, “I don’t get it, either. You aren’t my type.”

“Yeah? Who’s your type?”

“Bookish boys. Poetry readers. English teachers.”